Blueknight Energy Partners L.P., L.L.C. (NASDAQ: BKEP) and Plains Group Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) are both energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Plains Group Holdings, L.P. has higher revenue and earnings than Blueknight Energy Partners L.P., L.L.C.. Blueknight Energy Partners L.P., L.L.C. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Plains Group Holdings, L.P., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Blueknight Energy Partners L.P., L.L.C. pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.0%. Plains Group Holdings, L.P. pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. Blueknight Energy Partners L.P., L.L.C. pays out -322.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Plains Group Holdings, L.P. pays out 272.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Plains Group Holdings, L.P. has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Blueknight Energy Partners L.P., L.L.C. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Blueknight Energy Partners L.P., L.L.C. has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Plains Group Holdings, L.P. has a beta of 1.51, meaning that its share price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Blueknight Energy Partners L.P., L.L.C. and Plains Group Holdings, L.P., as reported by MarketBeat.

58.1% of Blueknight Energy Partners L.P., L.L.C. shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.8% of Plains Group Holdings, L.P. shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of Blueknight Energy Partners L.P., L.L.C. shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 39.9% of Plains Group Holdings, L.P. shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Plains Group Holdings, L.P. beats Blueknight Energy Partners L.P., L.L.C. on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and provides logistics services for crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGL), natural gas and refined products. The Company operates through three segments: Transportation, Facilities, and Supply and Logistics. Through its three business segments, the Company is engaged in the transportation, storage, terminaling and marketing of crude oil, NGL and natural gas. The Transportation segment operations consist of fee-based activities associated with transporting crude oil and NGL on pipelines, gathering systems, trucks and barges. The Facilities segment operations consist of fee-based activities associated with providing storage, terminaling and throughput services for crude oil, refined products, NGL and natural gas, as well as NGL fractionation and isomerization services and natural gas and condensate processing services. The Supply and Logistics segment operations consist of the merchant-related activities.